1.Everyone shall possess the right to freely express and publicise his thoughts in words, images or by any other means, as well as the right to inform others, inform himself and be informed without hindrance or discrimination
2.Exercise of the said rights shall not be hindered or limited by any type or form of censorship
Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, Article 37.º

Secret files released yesterday show that Portuguese police dismissed dozens of potential sightings of Madeleine McCann.

Leads from around the world - including CCTV footage from New Zealand of a child looking strikingly like the missing girl - were filed away under the heading 'not relevant'.

Information that police forces in the United States, Europe and North Africa considered important was also discarded.

None of the files was handed to private investigators working for Madeleine's parents, Gerry and Kate.

Mrs McCann, 41, last night said the disclosure of the secret files was heartbreaking and shocking.

Their existence came to light in a legal action brought by the McCanns against Goncalo Amaral, the disgraced detective who was in charge of the case.

They had wanted to stop him airing the slur that they had been involved in their daughter's disappearance.

The leads were all received and archived after Algarve police closed the case in July 2008.

Madeleine was four when she vanished from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in May 2007. Her parents were at a restaurant 80 yards away.

They now have a copy of the 2,000-page dossier which was published yesterday on the order of a court in Portugal after an application by newspapers including the Daily Mail.

The McCanns are incensed that their private investigators were given no access to the sightings at the time.

Mrs McCann said: 'There are instances where information which we think is very credible and worthy of information has not been actioned.

'We're gutted, it's absolutely shocking and difficult. Some of the information handed in was very credible. It's heartbreaking to know that it seems to end there.'

Mr McCann, also 41, was particularly angered at Inspector Ricardo Paiva, who was responsible for collating any information about Madeleine after the formal investigation ended.

He said: 'Inspector Paiva believes Madeleine is dead. How can he investigate thoroughly if he believes that? We know now there is a lot of information just filed away - and that is not acceptable. Once the file has been closed, what has actually been done? Next to nothing.'

The file contains a series of sightings which the McCanns would have expected to be fully investigated.

The astonishing CCTV footage from New Zealand shows a girl very like Madeleine being led into a supermarket by a portly man in shorts - seven months after her disappearance.

The man's behaviour aroused the suspicions of a female security guard in the shop in Dunedin on the South Island and she approached the girl to establish she was British.

Although the girl said her name was 'Hailey', the security guard was convinced the girl was Madeleine and reported the incident to police.

Interpol in Wellington then sent the images to police in Portugal who promptly deemed it 'not relevant'.

Other discarded leads include:

• A British ex-pat saying he saw a girl being dragged along a road toward the airport on the night Madeleine disappeared. He had not approached the authorities earlier because he was wanted for fraud.

• A girl like Madeleine was seen with an unkempt Spanish-looking man in his 30s at a shop near Murcia. The woman witness followed the girl but the pair vanished. She failed to tell Spanish police until June 2008.

• Another lookalike wearing only a dirty yellow jumper was seen being held at gunpoint on a French motorway by a half-naked man in August 2008. French lorry driver Michel Guidard walked toward them only to be threatened with a gun.

• Photos from the internet uncovered by a female French detective were found to show images of sexual abuse which involved a girl resembling Madeleine.

• An account by a Scottish mother of two who saw a girl who looked like Madeleine with a group of gipsies in Albufeira, Portugal, in July 2008. A woman who was with the girl ran off down the hill with her when two police officers turned up.

• Details of a sighting of a girl on October 9, 2008, with a Portuguese man living in the U.S. He allegedly ran a child trafficking operation smuggling in children from his homeland, Mexico and Greece.

Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for the McCanns, said: 'They are incredibly frustrated that this was sitting there and being disregarded by the Portuguese police.

'They were shocked when they saw the scale of the information that had come in and the lack of action taken.

'There are potential leads in the file that are now being followed up by our investigators.

'It's more than a pity that the file has just sat there for so long and simply marked "not relevant" by the Portuguese.

'There are also images in the file that are strikingly similar to Madeleine and are being looked into.'

Minor note because there isn't much to say really, so Team McCann wanted the information kept at the PJ in Portimão to "leak" it to the UK media to be divulged, instead of following the leads quietly in order to find Madeleine? What about the "appeal" to the Portuguese Public Ministry for the re-opening of the archived process to their daughter's investigation? What about the leads of their private dick, Dave Edgar, who stated that Madeleine was in a «lair» about 10 miles from Praia da Luz? This is a farse, and a desperate one.

Whilst I admit that grainy pic does look somewhat like Madeleine - it was taken 7 months after she went missing so wouldn't she be slightly taller? Besides, there must be literally thousands of little girls who resemble Maddie.

I hope the NZ police get onto this pronto and rule it out.

Pure spin from the McCann's again but the public will fall for it I fear.

Wow what a breakthrough this is wonderful news seems the sniffer dogs were wrong, come home Madddie come home soon. If Ya can't beat em join em. I won't sleep tonight with excitement. I have lost the plot.

The colobama is confirmed as of no use at all... except for marketing purposes. I can think of 4 or 5 identified little girls I've known who just could be this one.I've doubts about the mental health of sighters... And have you noticed how coward they are ? Instead of saying the truth, "this little girl looks very much like MMcC, do you mind if I check your identity", the security agent makes a picture (careful not to catch the man's head) and calls the police ! Ludicrous, as the Cofin would say.

New Zealand, Morocco, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Mexico. Good grief, this has got to be a case of the most travelled hostage in history. Well look on the bright side K+G; it has saved you a fortune in holiday expenses sending your child on a world tour care of Ex paed ia travel.

The purpose could be to justify the enormous amount they intend GA to feed the fund with. Isn't it after all because of him that Paiva didn't investigate the sightings, causing an enormous damage to Madeleine and co ? The least is paying so that competent PI are able to investigate the leads these shameful Portuguese police have swept under the carpet.

Once walking abductors (when everybody has a car) are rare, why not swimming ones with the abducted on their backs up to New-Zeeland ?

"Although the girl said her name was 'Hailey', the security guard was convinced the girl was Madeleine and reported the incident to police."

Oh yeah! She was so convinced that she let them both go away without raising hell! A security guard, for goodness sake! I never understood how those who have claimed to this day that they have seen children that they were convinced were Madeleine, not once caused havock, raised the alarm and secured the child and whoever was with her until the police arrived! They always let them go away and then inform the police! If I ever had been in that situation I surelly would have cried out loud and made a spectacle of myself, but I would not stay quiet. She talked to the girl, she got close, but she did not think to look for the coloboma in the eye of the child, there's no mention of it.She didn't follow them to see if they got into a car and take the license number, but she was convinced it was Madeleine!Baaah!

"Another lookalike wearing only a dirty yellow jumper was seen being held at gunpoint on a French motorway by a half-naked man in August 2008. French lorry driver Michel Guidard walked toward them only to be threatened with a gun."

This one is very serious! There was a child threathened by a gun. I cannot believe that the french police did not investigate this, no way! They must know by now who it was and what the situation was, and it had nothing to do with Madeleine!

For me, this does not resemble Madeliene,maybe the haircut,because it is quite popular. for one thing the hair is darker...how many children age 3/4years are very similar, many are blonde and cute, as their real features do not form until later. Sorry McCanns but no, I dont buy itnits just like the victoria Beckham lookalike who looked no more likeVB than my right foot, (actually my foot is more attractive) but joking aside. This situation is getting out of control, how many more innocent people will have their lives interrupted by false sightings. Come on Portugal.. get this case reopened asap, because the McCanns for sure wont. Get those dogs back and save all these insults about you. Im british but ashamed to be so at this moment. GA you have suffered enough insults, SUE the McCanns

If British newspapers can ask the PP for information and he gives it to them what does that tell the McCanns? They can no longer pretend that it's out of their hands if the case is not reopened. All they have to do is ASK!!!

They can now ask their friends the LP to look into all these sightings via Interpol or whoever as they happened internationally, if they are not too busy doing nothing. All absolute BS. The PJ did everything in their power to investigate the case, the likes of the LP and British authorities hampered the case but who gets the blame. I hope the Judge is happy that her biased decision led to this.

Aham...excuse me ,please...Mr. and Mrs. McCann?...how can any of these leads or sightings be of any importance? They just cannot be of Madeleine, for sure...can they? Surelly you are aware of your private detective's theory( or is it thesis ?)that the answer for whatever happened to your beloved daughter lays in Luz and that she has been held there, in a secret lair, in a lawless village in the wild hills of Luz since the day she "was taken"!You must understand if the portuguese police no longer "looks" for Madeleine...it is not because they have read Mr. Amaral's book and convinced themselves she is dead, no, it's because your outstandingly clever retired police officer said she is hidden in a dungeon out-there. By the way, did the very capable Mr. Edgar ever inform the PJ of his beliefs and shared the evidence that supports his theory/thesis? Did he request a search with fine-tooth comb in the scrubblands of Luz? No? Really? Why ever not?...Answers in a postcard, please...

Totally off topic - but just to lighten the mood.Where are you guys seeing a beard aka Kenny Rogers?All I see is a hairy chest up to the neck area.He's wearing a v-necked tee shirt - isn't he???Or do I need stronger glasses? lol

Another innocent child exposed in the media by the McCanns! They have no shame nor conscience! They protect their twins, have their faces blurred in the media but expose someone else's child without a second thought!Just imagine the surprise and shock when this man sees himself and his child in the papers connected with the this unsavory business!I just hope the NZ police will act on this and that the man comes forward, and very, very angry!

After all, he was the one who decided to shelve the case so the PJ weren't officially looking for Madeleine any more.

Now that does beg the question, did he believe Madeleine was dead and there was no need to look after all?

If he believed Madeleine was dead, as did the investigators, why no charges brought against the McCanns?

If she is dead then serious harm has definitely come to the child whilst the parents were supposedly taking care of her, contrary to what the McCanns keep telling us that no harm has come to Madeleine.

Surely the case should have either resulted in charges against the McCanns being brought, or have been kept open and the PJ still looking.

So perhaps the McCanns will sue the Prosecutor as it was not the decision of the PJ to shelve the case. It was his. Did somebody higher up advise him to do this?

I might be wrong, but to my way of thinking if somebody had taken Madeleine, isn't it probable that with all the publicity surrounding the case, the 'abductor' would have changed her appearence.........hair style/colour etc.

From this link: http://www.3news.co.nz/World/Story/tabid/417/articleID/144493/Default.aspx

Madeleine’s parents, Gerry and Kate, formed their relationship together in New Zealand. Gerry McCann worked in the Hawkes Bay and played soccer for the Napier City Rovers in 1996.===================================================================

Is this why this particular sighting showing a headless man holding the hand of a child is the one being used to promote this latest spin which I actually don't believe has been orchestrated by the McCanns?

Hello Mary (4) Were you not excited, when a few weeks ago, Dave Edgar the McCanns private detective, said he believed Madeleine was living in a poor community. 10 miles away from PDL?

Did you not wonder as I did, why the McCanns and their wider family, who are being assisted by the fund that was supposed to find Madeleine along with Dave Edgar and Clarence Mitchell, who are being paid a salary out of the fund to find Madeleine, did not take the first available flight into Portugal, to this community, to search for Madeleine?

I wondered, just as I wondered why the McCanns did not search for Madeleine when she first disappeared. I came to the conclusion that the reason the McCanns, their wider family, Clarence Mitchell and Dave Edgar, did not visit that poor community, is the same reason why the McCanns didn't search for Madeleine.

Why on Earth would the prosecutor give any information to british newspapers??? His he mad? He must come forward and explain himself, the Justice Minister and the Attorney General must demand clarification! Oh, dear...that's right...I forgot! Judges and public prosecutors are not accountable before anyone, they are untouchable. Forget the explaining, chicken are more likely to get teeth before we'll see portuguese magistrates hel accountable for their actions!

"Detectives on New Zealand’s South Island failed to trace the child, so they sent the pictures to Portugal".What for ? For ID be able to claim leads have been kept secret ?Is this footage their best trump ? I googled French sites without finding any trace of the lorry driver.

Did only have to read the headline to know that this is another nonsense story. Even Gate and Kerry cannot believe this fairytale, they know Madeleine is dead. That's why they are not looking for her themselves. And mrs. Duarte is having the time of her live I think. Are they all mad and hoping to make money and become celebraties over a dead girls body? How sick can one get?

Ignore the spin and look for the real news. Something is brewing. Every single time the McCann team has done this, there has been something very important they want the British public to ignore. Wait for it, be patient. I am certain we'll see it soon enough.

I'm not sure if mentioning "sea bass" as Sean's favorite meal to cover for the fact that Eddie alerted to the cadaver scent was Gerry's lowest moment...or whether it was when he was driving the car and said that the abductor must have given the twins something to "keep them asleep" through the turmoil of the night Maddie went missing.

There should be an actual CCTV video rather than only stills, wouldn't you think? Easily checked. It is sad that the little girl is being victimised in this manner. A child Maddie's age would NOT have stayed the same size for 7 months and no doubt this was the only image that actually resembled Madeleine.

By the way, my granddaughter looks like Maddie. Should I tell my son and his wife to turn themselves in now or wait for Team McCann to show up at his door??? Wait, sorry, I forgot. I was THERE when the child was born. I think I can prove that, so I suppose the McCanns will have to find another innocent family to endure the spotlight of suspicion.

They've really LOST THE PLOT. So that has to be a good sign for justice!

According to the sightings' dates, I've feeling that these sightings are old false leads that the PJ didn't throw, one has to wonder why, in the garbage bin.The picture of the "astonishing" beheaded was sent more than 6 months after. Interpol found nothing, so they used the PJ as a garbage bin.

The McCanns and their highly paid team could release a picture of anybody and claim it "may be Madeleine." The so-called sightings are merely a way for the McCanns to stay in the news. Shameful.

For a reality check regarding this case, read this article written by American investigative journalist, Christopher Freind:http://www.freindlyfirezone.com/index.php/national-news/item/8-madeleine-mccann-forsaken-by-gerry-and-kate-again#itemCommentsAnchor

Why not a message from the parents to the abducter in New Zealand showing their concern that Madaleine still did not grow up half centimeter.If this photo was taken after July 2008, she even looks younger than she was in 2007.The abductor is not taken good care of her.Better food, that is what she needs.

Hello Kathybelle, My true thoughts on the Maccanns would not be Printed on this blog, we would all be in the clink, This pair are evil and vile beyond words. They will stop at nothing I am beginning to wonder are they human little Maddie is better off away from them, God rest her soul, she is a little angel.

OH oh, here we go again. What ever happened to the Spanish Detective Team, were they not in 'action' at that time of this SIGHTING? What? are the PJ the only ones accountable in this whole MESS. My blood pressure is going hay wire again, will it never end?

Perhaps they are afraid of a Jane Tanner moment, and a change of her story of what she saw.

She may even end up claiming she was mistaken about the time she saw the man carrying the child that night, and that it was at her second return to the apartment at about 9.45pm that she had the sighting.

She may even say he looked like Gerry McCann, just like the man Mr Smith saw at around that time carrying a child, and Mr Smith said the man looked like Gerry McCann.

How did she manage to arrive in New Zealand, no passport, no documentsand by the time she could have arrived in New Zealand everybody there would have known already about her disappearence.New Zealand is a former colony of England,still protected by that country, they all follow the uk on papers and TVs.

Jane Tanner described the abductor exactly the Smiths described that man.Gerry knew he was seen by the Smiths and asked Jane to state she had seen the offender,etc,etc,light trousers, black shoes, etc.She never ever saw anybody carrying any child that night.She only did a favor to Gerry, in order to save him.

The UK press is again full of this story The Sun is praising the courage of the Maccanns and again very critical of the PJ and slanderous about Mr Amaral, God help this man his name in the UK press is MUD.When will he snap and sue.

I hope when this child is identified, her parents receive an apology from the media for pretending to believe she could possibly be Madeleine. I also hope they sue the newspapers for printing her picture without their consent and implying she could be the missing Madeleine and that she was snatched by them from her real parents.

As for this child looking like Madeleine, she looks far more like the little girl who lives a few doors down the road from me, a little girl with dark hair in this popular style. As far as I know, the little girl down the road isn't Madeleine, unless they've been dyeing her hair (come to think of it, wasn't this bright idea suggested when the picture of pre-teen dark Madeleine was unveiled a few months ago? Hair dye and fake tan?). I could probably round up a dozen kids tomorrow who look rather like this child or like Madeleine, but that won't make them Madeleine. This point is seemingly too difficult for the media to understand.

And of course we're now back to the Madeleine who goes into shops with her abductor and is permitted to wander off and talk to staff. Remember the Dutch shop assistant being told by a supposed Madeleine 'They took me from my mummy'? Now it's a different country but the abductor still allows his abductee to talk to the security guard and tell her her name is Hayley (hmm, NOT Madeleine? Oh well, what's in a name, and maybe she was worried the security guard might take to calling her Maddie and we all know how much she hated that).

I can hardly credit the idiocy of anyone who takes any of this rubbish seriously. There's no way even the British newspapers believe any of this, they might be stupid but even they aren't that stupid. Or are they? Stupid or sick - I can't make up my mind.

So what we get is what is more than likely an innocent photo of a father & daughter in New Zealand snapped by an overzealous member of the public or press photographer in dire need of a scoop and the McCanns & the British press are all over it like a rash? How pathetic! First & most logical question is why would on Earth would Madeleine McCann be in New Zealand anyway? Is New Zealand renowned for its child trafficking, childless couples or country-hopping paedophiles? Not that I, and most other intelligent people are aware of so what's the real deal here or is our intelligence being insult once again by this pathetic & desperate charade?

I am not sure I quite understand this yet. But it seems to me that when the Pt files got released the McCanns and their lawyers got more than the press did.

Because of their action against Goncalo Amaral further information that had been held back is coming to light. One instance is the report of Lee Rainbow where he says that Gerry in particular should be investigated. The McCanns attempted to prevent the PJ file from being produced to the Pt Judge in the latest action. What were they so fearful of, could it have been things that they know, but hitherto the press and public did not? Could it be that they had all these "leads" since mid 08 but never followed them up themselves?

I am not sure but I would imagine the McCanns already had this dossier of possible sightings of Madeleine, hence they were already saying credible sightings had just been ignored. The other possibility is that Portuguese and British Police were holding back what they considered may be credible sightings of Madeleine on the basis they knew the McCanns themselves were responsible for her disappearance and had they been alerted personally might have prevented Madeleine being recovered.

Could it be that British Newspapers have now made an application to her to release further information that had previously been held back from the press? The report certainly reads to me as though it may be the current Judge in the Goncalo appeal who has ordered this further release of papers, but would she have authority to do that, as a civil court judge? Maybe Pt readers who understand Pt law could tell us? We heard no mention from the McCanns or their lawyers they were appealing to this judge to release further papers. I tend to think they already had them, hence their comments prior to this release about leads not being followed up etc.

A poster above commented why didn't the French investigator who discovered a picture depicting a child that looked like Maddie being sexually abused hand this information to CEOP etc. Why do you assume she did not? Do you think CEOP would actually release this information!!!

I have to give the gold medal for ludicrous sightings to the "held at gunpoint next to the French highway" only 15 months after the "abduction".

The absolute dredges of unlikely scenarios is the French detective uncovering child abuse images on the internet and promptly forwarding them to Portugal, rather than the French authorities investigating. The PJ have jurisdiction of the Madeleine case, not of the internet as a whole, and the cases of those poor children will be looked into, surely.

I am seriously beginning to question the role of the British authorities in all of this Beattie. Madeleine McCann is a British citizen yet, it seems, they have done very little in actively investigating her disappearance in co-operation with their Portuguese counterparts. It seems that the British authorities are quite content in backing the McCanns & letting their Portuguese counterparts take the rap for any failings in the investigation into her disappearance. In my opinion & taking into consideration the fact that Madeleine McCann is a British citizen the British investigative authorities are also partly responsible for any failings in the investigation into her disappearance too. Clearly, in my opinion, the whole investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance was very poorly coordinated by both countries from the beginning yet, it seems, the British authorities are unable or unwilling to admit it and would rather "save face" by letting the McCanns do their dirty work for them. Right at this moment I don't know who is the more corrupt, the Portuguese or the British police but one thing is for certain, poor Madeleine McCann has been failed by more than just the Portuguese police and she will sadly continue to be failed as long as this vindictive "backlash" regarding the investigation into her disappearance by the Portuguese police continues unabated. Are we looking for a missing child or are we looking for revenge & retribution because I am getting rather confused about which of the two is more important to certain people who claim to have the best interests of this missing child at heart?

The McCann’s will continue with this spin and make more and more profit from the death of their daughter until such times that the Portuguese authorities admits its failings and reopens the process

Don’t ever forget that it was the Portuguese authority that disgraced and removed a good and honourable man from the case just for being good at his job.It was the Portuguese authority that made the McCann’s VIP’s and assisted them to flee Portugal without even charging them for abandoning and neglecting their children.It was the Portuguese authority that archived the process.It was a Portuguese court that ruled against freedom of speech and allowed the book to be bannedIt was a Portuguese court that rejected an appeal to uphold the principle of free speech enshrined within the constitution.

Stop this farce now before the McCann’s demand the world and sue all of Portugal

What a very brave New Zealand Abductor we have: "As The Sun reveals, police have been sitting on files with pictures of a blonde girl "shockingly similar" to Madeleine - down to her hairstyle." Taking her out of 'her' bed while leaving NO TRACE, across continents, the whole world lOOking for her and he can't even bother to disguise her some? Weird sort of plan, isn't it? Maybe we're meant to interpret this as "hiding in plain sight"?! Weird.

Enter The Daily Star: "Madeleine's doctor parents Kate and Gerry, both 41, have ASKED HOME SECRETARY Alan Johnson, 59, TO ORDER THE CASE TO BE RE-OPENED by a joint team of Portuguese and British detectives." Right. So the UK Government is to give the Portuguese Government ORDERS on policing in Portugal. Hmmm. Great British and its colonies??? And who will order Kate to answer her 48 Questions? And who will order the McCanns and their 7 Friends to return to Portugal for the police reconstruction? Oh, I forgot: Kate can't face the prospect of returning to Praia da Luz.

Order! Order! Judgement Day awaits, even for those who do all in their 'power' to evade it!

The upholding of the injunction on Goncalo Amarals book is not permanent.It is heading fast for the case to be re-opened which would mean every area would need to be investigated again...of which abduction is only one.It is blatently obvious the Mccanns do not want the case re-opened thus using words like review panel and wanting the best people to head it ie ...someone who will only follow abduction leads in other words more bullshi~~.Given the fact that this latest hearing on the book injunction has bought many respected people to talk about the case and support Goncalo Amarals conclusions, this has confirmed to the Mccanns that if the case is reopened..the truth will out.....this has put the fear of God into them and OTHERS.So the plan is now to attack the PJ...... and Portugals government if they dont help(again).The plan is to make them (PJ) seem incompetent and as nasty as they can to dilute there position in the investigation and any subsequent reopening.

the Mccanns want an official body full of people like dave edgar and clarence mitchell..................now theres a thought !with a title like FBI to give it some credence.

I wonder if the UK press, in its pursuit of The Truth, also requested release of the Lee Rainbow NPIA 'Gerry McCann/inconsistencies/homicide/investigate the McCanns' report also alluded to - and most likely entered into evidence - by Goncalo Amaral's defense attorney, Antonio Cabrita?

They seem intent in getting hold of the rest of the files to check out what information was held back from them or about them. This is without doubt a public relations offensive, to turn opinion back in their favour.

oh dear ,here we go again,i have come to the conclusion that the mccanns family,s must be made of the same shit as the mccanns themselfs if they can see this printed and go alone with the lies.poor madeleine what ever did she do to have so called parents and family like this.god bless madeleine

Far from UK Government being involved at present,if they were, they would instruct the McCanns to lie low and shut up.

They were cut loose some time ago in my opinion.They may have been managed in the beginning, but Gerry knows best and they got fed up of trying to keep a lid on him.

Hence the spiral out of control which we are witnessing now. Had they still been managed, they would have been advised NOT to sue Mr Amaral as winning is an expensive price to pay for adverse publicity.

Dunedin Police say that they did receive information from a member of the public who believed she saw Madeleine McCann in a Dunedin retail outlet in December 2007.

Acting Southern District Commander, Inspector David Campbell, said police spoke with the informant to establish what had been seen and sought pictures from the retailer involved.

A report was filed by an attending officer and police worked closely with the retailer to start an inquiry and obtained security footage of the child, who had the appearance of Madeleine McCann, and the family with her.

Hard copies of the security pictures were given to police. Police then requested electronic copies but these were not available.

Police were unable to obtain any further information or ongoing lines of inquiry.

The file was forwarded to Interpol and this is correct procedure under international agreements. The lead jurisdiction, in this case, Portugal, directs how the case progresses and has not asked NZ Police for any follow-up to date.

There is a mysterious fixation with Australia (Posh Spice) and New Zealand. And I don't get it that an abductor/s came from down under to snatch a girl from Praia da Luz in Portugal, when there would be thousands of children quite near. I don't get it.

The McCanns are masters at covering their tracks, and this recent wave of news is part of that strategy. They take advantage of any piece of information they can get hold of, to be used to create confusion......and more spin. I'm just wondering until when will this last. When will the British press start wondering that something isn't right at all?

It is thoroughly depressing that the UK media has so little respect for its readership, and not just in this case.

The second picture in the Daily Mail shows the same man and girl with what I assume to be the girl's brother, she is pointing her arm at the boy in a playful way, it is obvious that she is with her family.

OK, so you plaster the face of a small child all over the world media, and then expect every nutter who responds by seeing a similar small child, to be followed up by the full might and main of the Portuguese police force, with no filtering of logic or common sense? Sounds logical to me.

Do you remember "white Maddie" and "black Maddie", you know the ones that looked about 12? I think I saw them walking together to school in my neighborhood recently. I called the local police and made an hysterical case of it (the Evil Paedo Abductor cloned her, aged her and turned one of the clones into a Muslim, as she was wearing a headscarf!!), but those ignorant sardine munching Portuguese police paid no attention at all. Obviously the PJ is evil and malicious for not paying attention to such a credible lead, and ooooooh the pooooor parents!

I hope this picture is been shown in NZ because whoever that person with that child they need to be found because yes this does look like Maddy, but wouldn't whoever abducted Maddy?????? would they be out strolling hand in hand for a picture to be taken??????I honestly believe if this was Maddy which Im 1000% sure it isnt, they would have changed her look before contempleting taking out in the street.TM seem to forget that there are other children out there that resemble Maddy, remember the child on its mothers back in Morocco!! the one in the French Motorway Station who looked the double of Maddy asking "where is my Mummy"

To anonymous 41 : As far as I know the PP did not give any information to the press. These are obviously the photos that Isabel Duarte got during the hearings and now the TM are going into full spin.

The scandalous "interview" of Gonçalo Amaral by that full blown narcissist Miguel Sousa Tavares is also part of their campaign but all you have to do is look at the comments on SIC online to see that the attempt just blew up in their faces.

This story has been shaped and spun by Mitchel, he proudly admitted to shaping the press stories. But even the Daily Mail describes these as "lookalikes" in a momentary slip of truth amongst the McSpin. We all know what "lookalikes" are. They are not the real thing but persons who look like someone else. Well said DM. The girl in the supermarket's name was Hailey, these are not credible sightings at all.

Its looks like attempt to bully the current Home Secretary who is refusing to comment and wont force the UK police to hand over to Gerry ALL Tanners statements about Robert Murat. When Jackie Smith was home secretary she did exactly what she was told including visiting Leicester police accompanied by Gordon. The current incumbent is Alan Johnson who in a previous life was the boss of a massive Trade Union who is also hotly tipped to succeed Gordon. He wont be bullied by Gerry or anyone unless it suits his own agenda.All in my own personal view

Yes, of course, the first thing that New Zealand paedophiles do is to pop down to the supermarket with their victim, especially if she is the most publicised little girl in the world. Yes and they wouldn't disguise her with a hat would they? Was this before they went to the lair 10 miles from PDL or after I wonder? what does Dave say this time? Stop taking the p**s McCanns. There is good reason why these so-called leads were not credible. The public are not so foolish to believe this nonsense any more, that's why there were no donations recorded in the accounts last year.

I firmly believe that all info given to th PJ regarding a possible burial site would be followed up 100%, however sightings to include a walking, talking Maddy would be binned before they got past the post room.Portugal knows the truth, informed people know the truth, somebody for God's sake open the files and pursue the Smiths, Eddie and Keela and the trusted psychologists.

A little girl in New Zealand, seen in a supermarket with a man (in all probability her dad), calls herself Hailey. It's highly likely she's an NZ girl called Hailey, but not according to TM and the spineless British press.

Is this one of Paiva's shocking missed clues that Isabel Duarte was talking about? Is that really all they have?

"Once the file has been closed, what has actually been done? Next to nothing."

Yes Gerry .... That's because the case was C L O S E D. That's what 'closed' means ... no-one investigating - that's what you wanted remember? Because whilst you would love us all to be running around the world looking for little girls with a 'striking similarity' to your daughter, what you Didn't (and still Don't) want is to co-operate with an investigation.

I agree with Anon 99 ... the public just aren't that gullible any more - even the papers are using the phrases 'look alikes' and images of girls 'strikingly similar to'.... the more of this nonsense the McCanns try to spin, the less notice anyone takes.

M has been shot from ther bed through the window and docked to one of the orbital space stations from where she descends frequently to pop up all over the world in order to keep the PJ bussy and the McCs out of trouble. If you have a camera and access to a school (not in Britain though since you would immediately be classified as a Paedophile) take pictures of any blond 5 or 6 year old and you have another M available. Send the photos to your local police station and I guarantee that will keep them in a job for the next 200 years. Total rubbish!

For God's sake Portugal, reopen this case. Britain and Portugal are being made total fools by TM and their pink cronies.Just how long do we have to be subjected to this utter sh*te?I often wonder what Gerry's colleagues at work say to him when they read this crap in their coffee break. How embarrassing for them to have to face him on a daily basis.One farce after another played out by our spineless 'journalists' and I use the word journalists lightly. I feel so sorry for the twins, they are going to grow up someday and read all this stuff....

My initial investigations about the training of the dogs was that it was done using pig meat, it being the closest to human flesh in the scent of cadaverine.

We then heard the story of Sean and the sea bass and this was put forward as a cover story for the cadaverine discovered in 5A (although it does not account for the coincidence of the blood samples). I just thought that the sea bass (excuse the pun) was another red herring as pigmeat/human decomposition was different to sea bass decomposition.

However, sea bass seems to be regularly mentioned now. I have just domne a Google search on 'cadaverine "sea bass"' and there are quite a few hits from sceintific papers. See http://www.cababstractsplus.org/abstracts/Abstract.aspx?AcNo=20043096496 for instance:The effect of gutting and filleting on the formation of biogenic amines and its relation to microbiological and sensory attributes in ice-stored sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) was studied. Pseudomonads, H2S-producing bacteria, Brochothrix thermosphacta and to a lesser extent Enterobacteriaceae were the dominant micro-organisms in whole, gutted and filleted sea bass. Higher populations (P<0.05) of these micro-organisms were present in filleted sea bass as compared to gutted and whole fish samples. Seven biogenic amines namely: putrescine, cadaverine, spermidine, tyramine, tryptamine, spermine and histamine were determined in fish samples. Putrescine was the main biogenic amine formed. Its highest value (23.86 mg/kg) was recorded in filleted sea bass on day 16 of storage. Respective putrescine values for gutted and whole sea bass were 12.64 and 3.12 mg/kg (day 16). Putrescine levels of whole, gutted and filleted sea bass showed a steep increase between days 11 and 16 of storage when respective population of Pseudomonads reached approximately 106-107 (whole), 107-108 (gutted) and 108-109 (filleted) cfu/g. Cadaverine was not detected before day 9 in whole and gutted sea bass samples and before day 11 in filleted samples. Surprisingly, for whole sea bass a maximum value of cadaverine (6.47 mg/kg) was recorded on the final day of storage (day 16), whereas respective levels for gutted and filleted samples levels were lower (1.19 and 0.58 mg/kg). Almost simultaneous production of tryptamine and tyramine was observed in whole, gutted and filleted sea bass samples throughout the entire storage period in ice. Spermine and spermidine showed a decreasing pattern with increasing storage and were undetectable in whole and gutted sea bass samples between day 13 and 16 of storage. Finally, no histamine was present in both whole and gutted sea bass, whereas interestingly, for filleted sea bass samples, levels of histamine increased after day 9 of storage but remained low (<3 mg/kg) throughout the entire storage period. During this period Enterobacteriaceae counts remained below or in the vicinity of 106 cfu/g. Based on sensory data, after 8-9 days for both the gutted and the filleted sea bass samples (time for development of initial off-flavors), putrescine values between 3.63 and 4.05 mg/kg were recorded. This range of values may possibly be proposed as the upper limit for spoilage initiation for the gutted and filleted sea bass. This does not hold for whole sea bass which became sensorily unacceptable after 15-16 days of storage at a putrsecine content of 3.12 mg/kg. Development of initial off-flavors occurred when total viable counts were between 107 and 108 cfu/g.

Does anyone know if human cadaverine is different from sea bass cadaverine. I assume the latter smells of putrifying fish not decomposing humans?

There is a chemical call "psuedo corpse" which is used for the purpose of training, the scent is an EXACT replica scent of a rotting corpse, and that is exactly what the dogs in the Maddie case alerted too! the scent of a rotting corpse!

This method and chemical has been used for years and years and are currently being used as we speak in Chile!

For God sake, are they all MAD?It seems we have yet again a McCann couple playing the raving mad upon a bunch of lies they have made up for their favourite journos to publish.Well Mr and Mrs McCann you may feel all the fury you wish, but I don't buy your lies any more.There is no way a Prosecutor would be pressed by a bunch of newspapers to release secret files - are you kiddding?!!!And as being furious I am furious at you, pair of no goods, irresponsible parents, disgraceful people that only care for how much pounds you can get with your disgusting games. Have shame.

I think this is probably well almost certainly McCann media manipulation and agenda setting. These sightings are very old stuff, we can now see going back as far as Dec 07. They knew about them of course and tipped off the British press to get copies. Knowing the British Press as we do, they are not going to turn their noses up at a Madeleine story even if it is a pathetic one.

I believe the McCanns do want the file re-opening in Portugal but only under their own terms. Those include getting Ricardo Paiva the sack because they know he is an officer who simply does not believe in their innocence. They are pushing the Brit government hard and the Pt for the PJ to re-open the file and start investigating all these leads properly. Of course they already have been, I do not believe the PJ will sack Ricardo Paiva and neither do I believe they will re-open this case. As it is the McCanns who are responsible, British Police will prosecute them, and their file has never been closed. It does not seem the PJs has either really, but the McCanns would score a massive cous if they could say PJ re-open the case to look for fantasy abductor. They might as well just dream on and stop being so stupid. Gerry never has controlled the investigation of either the PJ or British Police and he might just as well accept that, they remain, prime suspects.

My understanding is that the dog is trained to detect human cadaver odour ONLY. Because it takes quite sometime for a human body to start decomposing a trained dog is capable of detecting the presence of death within a short period. The tests in the link below were conducted with bodies dead for 3 hour-period only...

So, one could say that a dog will be able to tell if a human death has occurred in a given location well before the body starts to decompose. Read more about this here:

The McCanns want to discredit Mr. Paiva and other officers in the PJ as the libel hearing will no doubt hear evidence from them. So what better way than get out these sightings via the gutter press to try and smear the PJ yet again. Its now about getting the 1.2 million from Mr. Amaral and winning the case using foul means and the ever willing UK gutter press. I note there is no mention of what the LP and the like did or did not investigate, or even a look into the LP files. No chance, buts its ok to delve into the PJ files. Is there anybody with a backbone left in authority in the Justice dept of PT????. If I were the PJ I would stick to my guns and reiterate the official PJ line until proven otherwise, is that Madeline is dead. So there was no point in following up nonsense sightings.

All the inocent people who have had there OWN children plastered across the news papers should sue the MacCanns. If these so called sightings of Madeleine have not been investigated, then how dare they go spreading other peoples childs pictures across the media. They know full well what happened to Madeleine, this is just a very desperate attempt to discredit the Portugese Police, and there own way of trying to prove the banned book was false. It's so obvious that all these sightings will be grainy and not convincing! Eddie and Keela told the story for us!

How any sensible person could think that this is Madeleine McCann I do not know!

Look at the relaxed body language of the guy - look at the body language of the child.

What utter rubbish. However, it is very interesting that McCann's supporters Clarence etc are using this - dont they realise that this could distract people from the search for Madeleine as they will think its her in New Zealand?! Of course they do!

This reveals their thinking and disproves their claim about Sr.Amarals book - I hope the Portuguese judiciary take this into account before dishing out money to the worlds worst parents!

I hardly ever write a comment, but i do have to say we are probably facing a world disaster when in all of those sightings none of the retarded people who were sure that was Maddie had the idea of just grabbing her... I think the Mccs should sue those who said saw her and didn't act. just imo. and the fund is getting smaller...

has nobody else noticed that in the photograph, standing to the left of the exit door behind the man, boy and "madeliene" inside the shop you can clearly see jane tanner walking behind the "man"

i know it looks like a man but i can see the back of his head and it IS ms tanner,hmmm then again maybe she is on the other side of the shop hiding behind the boxes,

i can see her there also and she is definitely looking suspicous, i can't see her properly as she's hiding but from what i can see she looks like she's only got one eye, her jacket is brown /tan/ dark /light and the way she's wearing her pj's is a sure sign she's foreign and in a strange land., hmmm i think she's gone back to the other side of the shop now, let me check with my gezza....

I wish people would stop battering both the Portuguese and British Police and remember they cannot publically discuss this case. Do people really want Kate and Gerry put on notice of what they think and the evidence against them?

It was never going to be easy to prosecute the McCanns. Gerry is NOT stupid. The Pt Prosecutor Mr Menezes acted perfectly correctly in shelving the case as there was insufficient evidence to prove what happened to Madeleine and clear in the knowledge Portugal would continue to look at any genuine evidence the McCanns could come up with to support their claims, which are obviously zilch and British Police have full jurisdiction to get Brit subjects who act in this way abroad, and what is more they always do!

There is just one set of villains here and I hope people will remember that, Team McCann who, lead by Gerry, disposed of little Maddie. That has got nothing to do with the Pt Government, the Pt Police, the Pt Judges or indeed the British either.

Mr Grime said himself, very clearly, the dogs do not produce evidence, they produce intelligence that has to be backed by forensic evidence. Unfortunately the forensic evidence was not clear. Had Maddie's clothing been seized at the time, it might have been. He also said very clearly Eddie is a victim recovery dog, trained to find bodies. He often does. In that regard when scenting out bodies he will pick up the distinctive cadaver odour but he will also pick up the scent of blood. It does the cause of justice no good at all when people simply ignore what he so clearly said. The so called evidence of the dogs would not last five minutes in any criminal court, that is the reality. If we want to be seen as credible people should give up on incredible assertions that claim they know better than those who are qualified to know. That does not mean the McCanns did not kill Madeleine, it simply means there is no evidence that would stand up in court to prove it. The police have a difficult enough job in both countries, they do not need insults on top of that!